When your start creating the visual design of a website there are a lot of considerations to think about such as: What is the company brand? What colors, fonts, and imagery should be used? What are the main communication objectives that need to be answered? Although these are all important, the first questions that should come to mind are:

1. Who are your target audiences and
2. What are their computer capabilities (i.e. Browser level, connection speed, computer literacy, monitor/screen dimensions, etc.).

By answering these, this helps inform the overall canvas dimensions to support the various monitor resolutions. Monitor resolutions are typically a “4:3” aspect ratio such as 800 width x 600 height (in pixels), 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024, etc. However, with larger screen monitors and widescreen laptops, the aspect ratios can also be “16:9”.

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Think about it. When you find yourself really invested in a conversation, it’s usually a retelling of memorable significance – an event that you participated in, a place you went, or something you saw. We all want something special to happen to us or someone we know. Why would this expectation or desire be any different from a client or a user for a website?

I have been teaching at University of Massachusetts at Lowell in the Art Department for several years. My first assignment for my students every semester is to provide three websites that they visit often or admire and the reason why they like it. It never ceases to amaze me the diversity and ironically the consistency of their choices. Not surprising, websites like Google, Facebook, and digg are repeated consistently. From there it ranges from purely inspirational from a design perspective (deviantart.com) to needing a “Break” or a laugh (toothpastefordinner.com) or to just wanting to catch up on their team’s score (nfl.com). Nine years of teaching, two semesters each year, and on average ten students per class has produced well over 500 links! The common bond behind all of these links is that someone found them memorable enough to share with someone else – in this case their classmates and professor.

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